April 24, 2008
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech (27-28, 6-11 ACC) is set to host Maryland (34-15, 6-9) in a huge Atlantic Coast Conference series this weekend at Glenn Field. The two teams will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 1:00 p.m. and then a single game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. as each team has six wins in league play and looks to improve seeding for next month’s ACC Tournament
Prior to game one Saturday, seniors Brittany Barnes, Savannah Brown, Stephanie Butler, Whitney Humphreys, Becky McCraw and Aileen Morales will be honored. All fans entering the Glenn Field gates on Saturday will receive a Georgia Tech roll-up blanket while supplies last. Live stats of all Georgia Tech games is available via Gametracker at www.ramblinwreck.com.
“This is going to be a great weekend,” head coach Sharon Perkins said. “It has been an honor to coach these six seniors and its going to be a great ceremony honoring their illustrious careers. Maryland is a tough team and having a great season so this will be a good way for us to end the regular season and continue building momentum for the upcoming ACC Tournament.”
The Yellow Jackets and Terrapins each have six wins in league play, but Maryland still has a series at Boston College next weekend. Tech is 22-16 all-time against Maryland and has won seven in a row in the series. Georgia Tech swept a rain-shortened series in Maryland last season and also knocked off the Terps in the opening game of the ACC Tournament.
As the weather has gotten warmer, so have the Georgia Tech bats. Leading the offensive onslaught has been junior Whitney Haller. Haller hit a walk-off, three-run home run on Wednesday against Georgia State to break Tara Knudsen’s school record of 46. She is now just three away from the ACC record held by NC State’s Jen Chamberlin. Haller is on a season-long seven-game hitting streak and has batted .571 (12-21) with three doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI. Over that same stretch, she has compiled a 1.000 slugging percentage and .625 on-base percentage while racking up ACC Player of the Week honors on Monday.
Right on the heels of Haller is senior Savannah Brown. Brown smacked her 45th career home run against Georgia State on Wednesday and is batting .500 (10-20) over her last six games with nine runs scored, three home runs and nine RBI. Senior Brittany Barnes has hit in four straight games and had a home run in each end the Georgia State twin bill to bring her team-high tally up to 11. Junior Blair Shimandle has hit safely in seven of the last eight games at a .464 (13-28) clip with three doubles, seven RBI and seven stolen bases.
Senior Aileen Morales continues her assault on the Georgia Tech and ACC record books as she needs five more stolen bases to break her own single-season tally of 44, while 13 more runs scored would give her an ACC record.
In the circle, senior Whitney Humphreys is 8-1 with a 1.81 ERA in her last nine starts to earn two straight ACC Pitcher of the Week honors Junior Tiffany Johnson, meanwhile, made her first start since March 6 against Georgia State on Wednesday and picked up a complete-game win. She had missed more than a month with an injury, but has allowed just one run in 14 innings since returning to action last weekend.
